#32. Some Home Truths

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Some Home Truths!

Man is nearest to pigs.. No Sir, not to simians. Here is the proof: (a) it is human insulin which most of the diabetics take now. But some time back it was beyond the reach of many patients, and they used pig insulin. (b) The experiment which is going on in transplanting pancreatic cells of other animals is primarily concentrating on pig cells. (c) When our own Dr. Barooah tried to transplant animal heart into human body, he used pig heart. Need any more convincing? When a young lady whom you have teased gets exasperated she screams, “Mr. Smith, you are a p-e-e-e g”!

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Man is by specie a vegetarian. Good old days in the school one of our teachers had told us a story. Once there was a jungle fire, and a deer was burnt. A man saw it and out of curiosity he put his finger inside the flesh. It was hot, and the instinctive reaction was to put the finger in the mouth. And he liked the taste. Then started mutton eating and especially cooked meat. But whether prior to this he ate raw meat, or only fruits and roots? That is a moot point. But those who follow Jainism firmly believe that man is structurally made to be a vegetarian: (a) Our teeth are like herbivores and not like carnivores to hold the kill, puncture its neck and tear it. (b) We suck water like a deer and not lap it like a tiger (c) monkeys and apes are vegetarian (so is pig!). In any case if homo sapiens first came into existence (or evolved) in Africa, this might be true. Later climatic compulsions of colder regions made them carnivores. (Sorry, I don’t carry a brief for veggies).

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Will a day come when we will understand the language of the animals and birds? My own impression is that enough attention has not been given to this problem otherwise it was nothing very difficult to break. But yes, they have very limited vocabulary. The cry of the birds, the gibber of the monkeys and the frightened call of the deer when they get to know that a tiger is on the prowl are known to everybody. Some birds are cleverer than others. Crows. They may have a larger vocabulary. Have you seen the gregariousness of the crow when even for a small amount of eatables they would call all their brethren nearby to share it. On the other hand even if there is a dead elephant and a lone dog he would snarl if another one comes.. But no, wild dogs do hunt in a group. But probably for the selfish reason that for a lone dog it may not be possible to kill. Coming back to language of animals, in a dairy farm in Chhattisgarh I have seen cows being called by the number allotted to them, and they do respond. Even tribals and primitive societies have a limited vocabulary. Uncomplicated life and the absence of complex emotions and thoughts. Indo-European group of languages have probably the richest vocabulary than any other languages spoken in the world.